Enjoying the journey through parenthood and life

Father’s Day 2012 (In Pictures)

A couple of days before Father’s Day, I asked Greg how he wanted to celebrate. It was going to be his day and it was totally up to him what we did. His answer? He wanted to have a picnic at Little York Park with Zoey and I. Thus, on Father’s Day we headed for the park.

Our original plan had been to go early in the morning (meaning getting there around ten-ish) in an effort to stake out a good spot that had a working grill and was near the creek so that Zoey could play in the water. But on the morning of Father’s Day, Greg and I realized that 1. it pretty much takes an act of God to get all three of us up and around early in the morning and 2. Zoey was going to need a nap at some point mid-morning and if we were at the park, we knew she wouldn’t even try to rest (and could we blame her?). So, we revised our plan and decided to go after Zoey had a good nap.

When we finally did get to the park, we found in incredibly CROWDED. It seems everyone and their mother had the same picnic idea that we had, but we were finally able to find a grill a bit away from everyone else. It wasn’t near the creek, but we kind of didn’t have a choice since it was really crowded near the water.

Our little picnic area was just fine for us, though. A couple picnic tables pushed together near a big tree that provided shade. There was tons of space for Zoey to run and play with her purple kickball that we had brought– and chase bubbles that I blew her way.

Greg got busy at manning the grill:

The hot dogs were for Zoey

Naturally, we forgot something kind of important at home–plates. The park is only about three minutes from our house, though, so Greg ran home to grab some while Zoey and I checked out the playground area. She must have gone down the small slide at least ten times by the time Greg got back to our picnic area.

Zoey was in no mood to sit down at eat lunch because there was just too much park to explore. She had about three bites of her hot dog before she decided that she and Daddy had to take a walk and check everything out:

Walking around with Daddy

On the way back from their walk, they ran into another family that had a little girl just about a month older than Zoey. The two girls instantly bonded over their shared like of purple kickballs (the other girl had brought hers to the park too) and Greg and I were talked to the girl’s mom when all of the sudden the girl’s dad, who was a few yards away with their other kids down by the lake, yelled to us that they had caught a fish. We all headed down to the edge of the water and Greg helped their young son take the fish off the hook. He asked Zoey if she wanted to touch it and to our surprise, she reached down and took it right out his hand:

Ew ew ew ew

She loves animals just like her Daddy

The other kids got to touch the fish too and then they released it back into the water.

We said our goodbyes to the other family and headed back to our picnic area to clean up so we could go to Greg’s dad’s house for a boat ride:

Look at her walk barefoot through the grass like she OWNS that park

At Grampy Emmett and Grammy Karen’s house, we put on Zoey’s life vest and everyone loaded into the boat for a ride:

She wasn’t entirely happy about the life vest situation at first

Boat rides at Emmett and Karen’s house are always incredibly relaxing, but my favorite moment was this:

Zoey and Daddy

The above picture complete captures the spirit of Father’s Day that I wanted to celebrate. Greg is a fantastic dad. He sings and dances to silly kids songs. He changes diapers. He pretends to answer toy phones and has no problem getting right in a kiddie pool to play. He’s patient and sweet and Zoey knows she has him wrapped around her little finger. But, at the same time, she is totally becoming a Daddy’s Girl. On Father’s Day this year, I wanted to celebrate that, to let Greg know that he’s an amazing Daddy and that we appreciate him in every way. But because having your own day doesn’t mean you get a break from parenting, Greg spent his whole day chasing Zoey around the park and then scooping her up in his arms and explaining something to her while we were on the boat (as pictured above). His day, it turns out, was really about watching his little girl have fun. That sort of selflessness is why Greg is amazing and why Zoey is so blessed to have a Daddy like him.

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About cdhoose

I'm a mom to an amazing little girl and have another little one on the way. I live in Upstate New York with my fiance and daughter, 2 big, crazy dogs and a 3-legged cat (who has an attitude). I hate know-it-alls, Lindsay Lohan and socks with holes in them. I always seem to get myself into trouble (which entertains my fiance to no end), but I try hard to be a good parent. Also, I occasionally work on scrapbooking the fifty billion pictures I've taken of my kid. And I like ice cream. The end.